BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | SB 1522|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: SB 1522
Author: Leno (D)
Amended: 4/26/12
Vote: 27 - Urgency
SENATE HUMAN SERVICES COMMITTEE : 7-0, 4/24/12
AYES: Liu, Emmerson, Berryhill, Hancock, Strickland,
Wright, Yee
SENATE PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE : 7-0, 5/8/12
AYES: Hancock, Anderson, Calderon, Harman, Liu, Price,
Steinberg
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
SUBJECT : Developmental centers: reporting requirements
SOURCE : Disability Rights California
DIGEST : This bill requires a state developmental center
to report to local law enforcement all deaths, sexual
assaults, assaults with a deadly weapon or force likely to
produce great bodily injury, and other specified crimes,
and requires that if the initial report is made by
telephone, that a written report be sent as follow up
within two days.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
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1. Establishes jurisdiction of the Department of
Developmental Services (DDS) over state developmental
centers, which provide residential care to individuals
with developmental disabilities.
2. Requires developmental centers to immediately report all
resident deaths and serious injuries of unknown origin
to the appropriate local law enforcement agency, which
may, at its discretion, conduct an independent
investigation.
3. Establishes a police force within the state DDS to act
as a law enforcement agency for the state developmental
centers. This police force has been named the Office of
Protective Services (OPS).
4. Requires mandated reporters of elder and dependent
abuse, as defined, to follow up any telephonic report of
known or suspected abuse with a written or internet
report within two working days.
This bill:
1. Requires a developmental center to report the following
incidents to the local law enforcement agency,
regardless of whether the OPS has investigated the facts
and circumstance of the case.
A. A death
B. A sexual assault, as defined
C. An assault with a deadly weapon or force likely to
produce great bodily injury, as defined
D. An injury to the genitals when the cause of the
injury is undetermined
2. Requires that if the incident is reported to the law
enforcement agency by telephone, a written report of the
incident shall also be submitted to the agency within
two working days.
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Background
DDS . The developmental centers are part of a system of
care overseen by the DDS. Currently, about 1,800
individuals live in these state institutions and about
250,000 live with services and supports in their
communities. A developmental disability is defined as a
severe and chronic disability that is attributable to a
mental or physical impairment that begins before age 18,
including mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism,
epilepsy and other similar conditions. Consumers living in
California's developmental centers typically have the most
significant physical and behavioral needs, and need
extensive services and supports.
OPS . California statute confers peace officer status upon
officers in the OPS, the law enforcement agency for state's
developmental centers. OPS officers are authorized to
enforce hospital rules, preserve peace and to protect state
property. These officers investigate thefts, trespassing
and suspicious person claims, respond to missing client
calls, enforce restraining orders, patrol the developmental
centers' grounds and investigate suspicious deaths, sexual
assaults and other major crimes.
Evaluations of OPS in developmental centers over the past
12 years have considered whether to retain the internal law
enforcement presence or remove police functions to an
outside entity. These evaluators concluded that the
environment and investigative skills needed to work with
victims and witnesses who have developmental disabilities
is significantly different than what a municipal law
enforcement officer would encounter and that, therefore,
OPS should be preserved.
History of investigative concerns . In 2002, the California
Attorney General's office released an 82-page paper,
Policing in the Department of Developmental Services, A
Review of the Organization and Operations 2000-2001. The
authors found: "? the majority of (law enforcement)
personnel lack the training, experience and proper
equipment to completely preserve and collect crime scene
evidence. While there is a critical need to train
personnel, there should also be prearranged agreements with
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outside agencies to take over the evidence processing upon
request." (P. 3)
It recommended that the DDS establish Memorandums of
Understanding (MOU) with local law enforcement agencies
that provide authority for those agencies to independently
review investigations completed by OPS, and to create a
process for local agencies to assist or take over
investigations that are in progress. AB 430 (Cardenas),
Chapter 171, Statutes of 2001, required DDS to report
specified deaths to their local law enforcement agency, and
DDS testified that is has established MOUs with those
agencies. However it is unclear what investigations have
been taken over or aided by local law enforcement agencies.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 5/21/12)
Disability Rights California (source)
Association of Regional Center Agencies
California Association of Psychiatric Technicians
California Association of State Hospital Parent Councils
for the Retarded
Development Disabilities Area Board 3
Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office
The Arc and United Cerebral Palsy in California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author:
Current law (Welfare & Institutions Code Section 4427.5)
requires a developmental center to immediately report
"all resident deaths and serious injuries of unknown
origin to the appropriate local law enforcement agency,
which may, at its discretion, conduct an independent
investigation (emphasis added)." The Department of
Developmental Services has an internal policy - which has
not been adopted as a formal regulation as required by
California law - about which type of "serious injuries of
unknown origin" must be reported to local law
enforcement.
According to testimony at the recent informational
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hearing by the Senate Human Services Committee, this
internal DSS policy calls for virtually all injuries of
unknown origin, even relatively minor ones requiring only
five sutures for treatment, to local law enforcement.
Testimony at the hearing indicated that the number of
reports transmitted to local law enforcement agencies may
dilute the effectiveness of this reporting requirement,
and local law enforcement agencies may be more likely to
respond to and investigate incidents if they received
fewer reports about more serious incidents.
CTW:kc 5/22/12 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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